These Children’s Books Just Won 2016’s Most Prestigious Awards

The American Library Association has announced the winners of its annual children’s and young adult media awards, some of the most prestigious prizes in youth literature.

The John Newbery Medal, which rewards the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature, went to Matt de la Peña’s Last Stop on Market Street, about a little boy’s weekly bus ride home from church with his grandmother.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal, which rewards picture books, went to Sophie Blackall’s Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear, about the author’s great-grandfather, who brought a bear named Winnie along with him to fight in World War I; Winnie later inspired the character of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh.

The Coretta Scott King award for a work by an African-American writer went to Rita Williams-Garcia’s Gone Crazy in Alabama, about Brooklyn sisters who spend a summer in the South. The corresponding award for an illustrator went to Bryan Collier for Trombone Shorty, about the New Orleans jazz prodigy.

The Michael L. Printz Award, which rewards young adult literature, went to Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap, about an abducted girl and the boy who wants to find her.

Read about the rest of the ALA award winners here.